La Luna Inspired

As I have stated many times before I have no idea what I am doing.  :)  I like to experiment.  Sometimes these projects go great without any snags or hangups.  Some crash and burn while some take a little bit of time before I get any sort of result.

Friday I tried my hand at working with polymer clay.  I've watched the tutorial videos and tips on the websites but it's something I have never played with.  It's not what I expected and took three tries to get anywhere close to what I wanted but I like how the final pendent turned out.

It was mostly inspired by this outfit at Disney by Design.

Let me just warn you that you may get lost in that website.  There are so many outfits to explore.  So I wanted that pendent but it was sold out so I started brainstorming and came to the conclusion that I wanted to make my own.

Polymer clay moons and stars.  

Moons made out of stars

I didn't have a pasta roller for the clay.  So I used the next best thing.  My tortilla press with a ziplock bag.

Like I said it took about three tries to get them to look like what I wanted.  Sometimes I have an idea in my head that I have a hard time making a reality.  Luckily I had a Creative Consultant to bounce ideas off while I was experimenting.  I also had little fingers in the mix who wanted to help and create her own necklace.  That's where all the hearts come in.  She squished her clay and then cut some tiny hearts out.

I did have a hard time understanding the plastic clay concept.  I thought that it was going to be like playdough and I would just sculpt with it and it would be all easy peasy.  And while it was pretty simple it wasn't what I expected.  It was still pretty fun though.  At one point put the clay in a bag in my pocket to warm it up and make it a little pliable.  I also had a hard time with the curing process.  When the clay came out of the oven it was still movable but I later read that if you leave it alone it will harden while it cools.  It did.  I just have to sting them and they will be ready.

And if you haven't seen the Pixar short that inspired all of it, here it is...

Sorry it's just a peek.  

Sew Along

Every now and then I get these ideas in my head.  Ideas that I think would be easy enough to execute until I realize I didn't think things through.  But I am committed to finishing my projects even though I only tend to make things difficult for myself.

I am taking a breather right now because I am about to throw something.  Not really but I'm just really frustrated.

This is the seam with the right sides together (RIGHT!)

The fabric is more green than gold.  

This is the seam with the WRONG sides together.  I didn't notice until I held it up to check the fit. 

Bonus.  Here is the picture Clover took of her snack when she realized my phone was left unattended and the photo app was open.

Something like that always seems to happen even if I think I am paying attention.  I'm just going to have to learn how to accept it and move on.  I had to take the side piece off.  I couldn't find my seam ripper so I had to go at it with a pair of scissors and a needle.  I pinned it and started over.  The front is officially done.  Just have the back, sleeves and finishing to do.

Someone needs to convince me that I'm not crazy!

I May Be Moody

I feel like today was a wasted day.  I woke up with a gnarly headache.  I took two ibuprofen with my cup of coffee and oatmeal and waited it out.  I started to feel better so I got up and put a load of laundry in only to be met with pain.  I had my neck brace on while I surfed the internet and waited some more for the edge to die off of the headache.  Nothing.  I got up and walked around the house which usually helps when my head starts to throb.  Still nothing.  Lunch time hit and I took two more ibuprofen.  I sat around and endured some more.  My headache was turning me into a whiney mess although there was no one except Clover around to hear it.  So it might not have happened...like a tree falling in the woods.  Around four I took a shower convinced that my headache would concede under the comfort of the hot water.  Still nothing.  At this time I started to stress out.  It had been all day and nothing had helped get rid of the headache.  I didn't feel out of it, other than the headache I felt fine but I wondered if I should call my neurologist just in case.

Then I gave up and laid down next to Clover while she watched Handy Manny in my big bed.  Then I could feel it.  There was a massive rush of pressure from my head to my sinuses.  Are you flippin kidding me?  All this worry and stress all day and it was my stupid sinuses?  Sure enough I could feel it start to creep down the back of my throat and I started coughing.  I got up and had some water and a cold pill with the good stuff to dry everything up and sure enough my headache went away.

Such a wasted day!

So I ordered pizza.  I was pretty pissed off at myself that the whole day was wasted all on account of my body playing tricks on me!  The only positive thing was that it helped to remind me to enjoy the good days.  You never know when your day is going to suck so just enjoy the good stuff while it last and endure and survive the crappy parts!

Isn't that what life is all about anyways?    

Crock Pot Mondays

Our schedule has been switched up a bit.  This season our dance class is on Mondays in the afternoon.  So that changes my designated laundry day.  Not that it's all contained in one day anyways.  I just get a majority of it washed on Monday.  Since I will be busy in the afternoons now I no longer have that extra time to plan out dinner.  So I will now be instituting Crock Pot Mondays.  This is the second week I have done it and it's nice coming home to dinner that is already made.  Yesterday I peeked in the cabinet and realized I had the ingredients to make Chicken Enchilada Soup.  I used this recipe here as a rough guide. 

The pic looks blurry because of the escaping steam.

With all the yummy veggies piled on top!

I made a few changes to the recipe.  I didn't bother softening the veggies.  They were going to cook in the soup long enough so I employed the dump and stir method.  I also didn't bother with the rue (flour and water as a thickener).  I broke up some corn tortillas and they melted into the soup and thickened it quite nicely.

What is your favorite crock pot recipe?  I have a lot to collect.  I have a lot of Mondays in front of me!

Sew It Begins

Sometimes I get really excited about stuff and come up with really crazy ideas.  Then the excitement dulls down and I'm left there scratching my own head.  For some reason I think I can sew a Renaissance style dress to accompany my Merida as Queen Elinor for Halloween.

Yesterday I started cutting out the pattern.  Which wasn't too bad.  But fun sewing time comes after the laundry has been started and the dishes have been done.  I didn't get very far but every little bit I work on is closer to completing the dress so that is all I need to focus on.

More than a couple years back I took a sewing class and learned some of the basics.  Although if you know how to read instructions you can work on a pattern.  Sewing is really easy if you break everything down and just like everything else it takes practice.  To this day I still cant sew a straight line.

The instructions are printed on the pattern itself.

Please ignore the coffee stains on my ironing board.  It's obviously only used for crafts!

 
Soon I will be working on the green taffeta I bought.  I hope this all goes easier than it's imagined in my head :).

Sew it begins!  

Get Knocked Down? Get Back Up!

Usually about two to three weeks into my "I'm going to treat myself better-eat better-exercise" attitude, something always happens.  It's my own personal challenge.  I've come to expect it.  Well into this round I knew something was going to happen.  I just didn't know what.

I upgraded my workout from Walk it Out on the Wii to working out on the elliptical.  I was keeping a timer and taking pictures of my progress to keep myself on the right path.  Two weeks in my feet started to experience some nerve damage.  It was a little scary when out of nowhere your feet go numb or alternate between tingling to pain.  So then I had to back track and figure out what I was doing that was causing all of these not so fun symptoms.

After discussing it with one of my doctors we figured out that I should for now stick with walking.  Walking?  How boring!  But since that is my new starting point.  Here we go again!

  

Supposed To Be Mary

I was a little curious if my darling Clover would start to recognize some of her favorite actors and actresses from the "I've seen more than once" movie collection.  I know that some studios like to use the same people in different roles.  I'm not exactly sure what her thoughts are about movies.  I'm not sure if she believes they are real or not.  We have talked about shows and theater and she knows that they are actors putting on a show on stage but I'm not sure about movies on a screen.

The first thought was during Muppets.  I was wondering if she was going to recognize that Gisele and Mary where both the same person, Amy Adams.  She didn't seem to make the connection.

Then my friend asked about Johnny Depp.  We know him as The Mad Hatter.  He is even on one of our most favorite blankets.  So she asked if Clover recognized him as Jack Sparrow since we have just started watching Pirates.  We talked about the similarities between the characters.  So far Clover hasn't noticed that the same person is two of her very favorite characters.

So I figured that since there are differences in the characters that she hasn't figured out that they are played by the same person.  Then the other day we saw the preview for The Five Year Engagement which stars Jason Segal.  We know Jason Segal as Gary from the Muppets movie.  The preview was less than three minutes long but after it was over she ran up to me and declared with a fierceness that only a four year old can express...

"MOM!  He is supposed to marry MARY!  Not that OTHER girl!  Why is he with her?  HE IS SUPPOSED TO MARRY MARY!"  

If I was her I would be more concerned with the lack of Muppets in the preview.